Best Courses For Web Developers

Many people want to learn web development, but may encounter obstacles in their pursuit that may prevent them from doing so. Some may not able to afford programming classes while others feel they don't have enough time to learn it. Many people are also on a budget and don't want to break the bank investing in expensive courses.

Even if time and money weren't an issue, many curious and aspiring developers repeatedly ask, "How do I start learning web development?" or "What courses do you recommend to start learning X?" After taking a class or two, the next common question that is asked is, "What do I learn next?"

Once they have a grasp of the basics, many new developers desire to learn more intermediate or advanced concepts, but struggle to find courses that teach them, and eventually become overwhelmed or frustrated when taking on complex real-world development projects.

As a result, I've put together this comprehensive guide that captures what online courses are available for you to learn web development when you're broke, short on time, on a budget, or looking to advance your expertise and skill set.

These courses also make great gifts for family, friends and colleagues. If you think a course you’re currently enrolled in would make for an excellent gift for the holidays or birthdays, consider purchasing another copy of the course for them. Some of the sites described below also enable you to choose any course that you’re not enrolled in by using their gift giving option.

Bonus: Get the step-by-step study plan to become a web developer in 3 months or less.

Best Courses When You’re Broke

There are excellent, online resources that are free to access if you want to learn web development. They allow you to get a feel for how web development works and cover everything from the basics to best practices. Below we’ll take a look at the ones I recommend, I'll highlight what they cover and I'll also provide additional resources to check out.

As a student of freeCodeCamp, you’ll join a supportive community, build projects, become certified in each discipline, and you can gain real-world experience by participating in their open-source projects used by nonprofits.

Bento

The creators of Bento have curated the best tutorials from around web and created a free full stack web development curriculum by top engineers. Their mission is to “inspire as many people in the world to become programmers. That means making learning to code accessible, fun, and affordable for everyone. It also means highlighting the best material that educators are creating.”

They offer 4 programming tracks online: web fundamentals, front end development, back end development, and databases. They also teach topics that cover over 200 different web technologies.

Best Courses When Short On Time

If you’re short on time and need to learn web development, One Month has you covered. With One Month's affordable and fun online bootcamps, you’ll learn HTML, Javascript, Ruby, or Python in 30 days. They have had thousands of successful students and have seen first-hand the amazing progress their students have been able to make in less than a month.

According to One Month, "Yes, there are some things that you can only learn with time, but anyone who says you need 10 years to become good at programming is a liar."

One Month HTML is a four-week course that will show anyone (even a total beginner) how to build their first website and learn to code HTML. When you sign up, you immediately get access to a member's area where you can take each lesson at your own pace.

Along the way, you'll learn HTML, CSS, FTP, SEO best practices, Facebook API, Responsive Web Design, Bootstrap, blog theming, and much more. This course is for beginners, so no prior programming experience is necessary.

The course includes 6+ hours of step-by-step video, 4 projects that you'll create for your portfolio, and a course certificate. As a student, you’ll experience, Q&A sessions with the instructor, online support when you have questions, and homework sets graded by the instructor or TA. By the end of this course, you'll know all of the fundamentals of HTML and be ready to start building website on your own.

One Month JavaScript is a series of video lessons and tutorials that teach anyone, even a total beginner, how to build four real-world projects that you can add to your website. You will learn how to make your website more interactive and engaging using JavaScript.

By the end of the course, your portfolio will consist of

an app that tells you where to go to happy hour after work

an app that searches for animated GIFs using the Giphy API

an app that searches SoundCloud for music and plays the results live in the app like a jukebox

an app where you generate your own API and use Google Spreadsheets as a database

If you had a hard time trying to learn JavaScript or feel completely lost when trying to make dynamic websites, One Month JavaScript can easily change that for you.

Ruby is one of the most flexible programming languages on the planet and is a great place for any beginner to start learning. And, for Rails developers, learning the Ruby behind the Rails is a critical part of building truly supercharged apps.

One Month Ruby shows you how to write and run your first Ruby scrips to automate tasks, to write scripts that interact with APIs, and scrape websites. In just 30 days, you will be ready to start coding Ruby apps on your own.

In One Month Rails, you'll learn how to code your own web apps using the most powerful and user-friendly framework available to web developers, Ruby on Rails. You'll need to commit 2-3 hours per week (about 15 minutes per day) to this course.

Half of the course is comprised of on-demand videos that you can watch on your own schedule. The other half will be spent completing homework assignments and getting feedback from your instructors in the private, students-only Slack room that will be dedicated to this course.

By the end of One Month Rails, you'll also be able to build and add powerful features to your web apps including creating user accounts, allowing them to upload images and other content, and more.

One Month Python is an introduction to programming with Python for total beginners. Python is a really popular language used by companies like Google, Facebook, Dropbox, Instagram, and Reddit.

The course consists of 50% online video that you can take at your own pace and 50% interaction with up to 50 of your fellow students and the bootcamp instructors through a Slack chat room. There are 1-2 hours of video to watch per week and you'll be asked to complete assignments and submit them to the instructor for feedback and a grade.

Programming for Non-Programmers is One Month's course for students who want to gain a basic understanding of coding before they get into learning an actual programming language. If you are someone who wants to get a developer's mindset, then this is the perfect place to start.

In this course, they tackle basic development principles to get you started on the right path, so no experience is necessary! You’ll learn what makes up the front-end, back-end, and UX. By the end of the course, you will know how to read code and will have produced three web projects from scratch.

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Best Courses When On A Budget

When you’re on a budget, look no further than Udemy, the largest destination for online courses. Their web development courses, normally valued at $200 or more, are regularly and heavily discounted where you can usually snatch them up for just $10 each. What a deal!

Best Overall Development Courses on Udemy

The Web Developer Bootcamp is a bestseller on Udemy and is advertised as the only course you need to learn web development - HTML, CSS, JS, Node, and more! Rated at 4.7 with close to 185K students enrolled, the course includes:

27 hours on-demand video

22 Articles

91 Supplemental Resources

Full lifetime access

Access on mobile and TV

Assignments

Certificate of Completion

The target audience for this course includes anyone who wants to learn about web development. It's perfect for complete beginners with zero experience. It's also great for anyone who does have some experience in a few of the technologies (like HTML and CSS) but not all. But most importantly, if you want to take ONE COURSE to learn everything you need to know about web development, take this course.

The bestseller course, Complete Python Bootcamp, is advertised as is the most comprehensive, yet straight-forward, course for the Python programming language on Udemy! As a student, you’ll learn the basics and go all the way to creating your own applications and games. This course is intended for beginners who have never programmed before, programmers switching languages to Python, and intermediate Python programmers who want to level up their skills.

With a course rating of 4.5 and 174K students enrolled, the course includes:

The Complete Java Masterclass, another bestseller course, is a step-by-step course that will allow you to master Java 8 and Java 9 core development. You’ll build creative, fully functional Java programs and by the end of the course, you will have gained the technical skills to become an in-demand Java developer for exciting software companies.

This course is intended for people who want to produce the highest-quality, creative Java software, people looking to go from absolute beginner to advanced Java expert, and people looking for expert knowledge and insider tips used by the world’s best programmers and top companies. With a course rating of 4.6 and close to 151K students enrolled, the course includes:

Master Angular (Angular 2+, incl. Angular 5) and build awesome, reactive web apps with the successor of Angular.js with the bestselling course, Angular 5. You’ll develop modern, complex, responsive and scalable web applications with Angular while fully understanding the architecture behind an Angular application. By the end of this course, you will have master the fundamentals of Angular to quickly establish yourself as a frontend developer.

If you’re a newcomer as well as an experienced frontend developers interested in learning a modern JavaScript framework, this course is for you. With a 4.7 rating and 112K students enrolled, the course includes:

27 hours on-demand video

22 Articles

91 Supplemental Resources

Full lifetime access

Access on mobile and TV

Assignments

Certificate of Completion

Best Courses By Individual Topic on Udemy

Web Development

In addition to The Web Developer Bootcamp, another top comprehensive web development course is the Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 where you will build 25 websites and mobile apps using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, MySQL and more. This course is perfect for anyone who wants to learn to code, anyone who wants to build websites, and learn in-demand skills to get hired as a junior developer.

With a 4.6 course rating and roughly 139K students enrolled, the course includes:

30 hours on-demand video

141 Articles

Full lifetime access

Access on mobile and TV

Certificate of Completion

HTML & CSS

The bestseller course, Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5 and CSS3, will teach you everything you need to know to get started with HTML5 and CSS3 by building professional, beautiful and truly responsive websites. This course is suitable for complete beginners or students with some knowledge about HTML and CSS, but who struggle to put together a great website. It would also be worthwhile for designers who want to expand their skill set into HTML5 and CSS3.

Taking a step-by-step approach, the course, Build Websites from Scratch with HTML & CSS, will have you learning the essentials of HTML and CSS by building several mini functional websites from scratch. This course with more than 77 lectures and 8 hours of content gives you a basic, yet thorough understanding of both HTML and CSS. Rated at 4.7 with 52K students enrolled, this course includes:

6.5 hours on-demand video

15 Supplemental Resources

Full lifetime access

Access on mobile and TV

Certificate of Completion

PHP

In the course, PHP for Beginners, learn everything you need to become a professional PHP developer with practical exercises & projects. This bestseller course is meant for total beginners in PHP and it doesn’t require any prior programming experience. This course will help you get all the fundamentals of Procedural PHP, Object Oriented PHP, MYSQLi and ending the course by building a CMS system similar to WordPress, Joomla or Drupal.

JavaScript

In the course, JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts, you will gain a deep understanding of JavaScript, learn how JavaScript works under the hood, and how that knowledge helps you avoid common pitfalls. You’ll even learn how to build your own JavaScript framework or library. This course is for new and experienced JavaScript developers who want to deepen their understanding of the language.

Go from a total JavaScript beginner to an advanced JavaScript developer with The Complete JavaScript Course. This bestseller course is different because it's not just about writing code, it's also about how and why code works the way it does. It's the perfect mix between theory and practice, covering not only small coding examples, but also on real-world projects and use cases.

React

In the course,Modern React with Redux, master the fundamentals of React and Redux as you develop apps with React Router, Webpack, and ES6. This bestseller course will get you up and running quickly, and teach you the core knowledge you need to deeply understand and build React components and structure applications with Redux.

By the end, you’ll be the who explains how Redux works to everyone else, because you know the fundamentals so well. This course was created for programmers looking to learn React and developers who want to grow out of just using jQuery.

In the course,Advanced React and Redux, realize the power of building composable components by learning advanced React and Redux concepts with detailed walkthroughs. This course is the perfect follow-on after taking Modern React with Redux. For example, you’ll learn how to write Redux middleware from scratch to uncover what is happening behind the scenes with Redux.

Angular

In addition to Angular 5 - The Complete Guide, the bestseller course, Learn and Understand AngularJS, teaches you the fundamental JavaScript concepts that power AngularJS. You’ll become fluent in AngularJS terminology and you’ll write quicker, better AngularJS code by discovering how AngularJS itself is built.

This course is for web developers and designers looking to learn AngularJS, those who have researched AngularJS but still find it hard to understand, as well for people who have used jQuery but are tired of doing everything manually.

NodeJS

Dive deep under the hood of NodeJS with the course, Learn and Understand NodeJS. Master V8, Express, the MEAN stack, core JavaScript concepts, and more. In this course, you’ll build a web server in Node and understand how it really works. You’ll also build a web application and API more easily using Express.

This course is for those who don't have server technology experience, but wish to gain this skill; those coming from other server technologies (like PHP, ASP.NET, or Ruby on Rails) and want to learn Node; those desiring to become MEAN stack developers; and, those who want to only have to write both client and server code in one language, specifically all in JavaScript.

In the course, The Complete Node.js Developer Course (2nd Edition), learn Node.js by building real-world applications with Node, Express, MongoDB, Mocha, and more. This bestseller course is based around a single goal: turning you into a professional Node developer capable of developing, testing, and deploying real-world production applications. It’s perfect for anyone looking to launch their own Node applications, switch careers, or freelance as a Node developer.

This course takes a very structured approach of teaching Rails starting with Ruby - the programming language behind Rails. Everything from "Hello World" to Object Oriented Programming is covered.

It’s designed to take students with no programming or web development experience to accomplished Ruby on Rails developers; furthermore, it’s just as useful for students who have experience coding in Rails and want to take their skills to the next level or students who are making the switch to Ruby on Rails from other frameworks.

This course can be your one stop shop for everything you need to become a web developer. It’s designed for complete beginners, professionals looking to bridge gaps in their knowledge, and python Developers looking to get into web development.

With a 4.6 rating and 24K students enrolled, this course includes:

32 hours on-demand video

6 Articles

6 Supplemental Resources

Full lifetime access

Access on mobile and TV

Certificate of Completion

Java

In addition to the The Complete Java Developer Course, gain a detailed understanding of Web Automation Frameworks with the course Selenium WebDriver With Java. The course starts with how to code in Java, so no prior programming experience is needed, and then covers selenium, TestNG, selenium grid, log4j, maven, Jenkins, database testing, performance testing, and more!

Web Design

Learn everything from design to frontend and backend programming with the course,Ultimate Web Designer & Developer Course. In this bestseller course, you’ll build 23+ custom design, web and programming projects all from scratch. The course covers Visual and Web Design, how to use Adobe Photoshop, and how to sketch professional wireframes.

Next it proceeds to teach HTML5, CSS3, Javascript and jQuery. At this point you'll be able to code custom websites, animations and web applications by yourself.

Then it’ll dive into designing responsive websites, PHP, MySQL, WordPress and custom WordPress plugin development. By the end of the course, you'll then have the ability to build responsive, dynamic websites and blogs, basic eCommerce sites and online stores, and have a professional understanding of all aspects of web design and development.

Best Beginner Membership Courses

If you’re a novice web developer and don't want to purchase courses individually, I highly recommend Treehouse. After completing your 7-day free trial, you can continue your Treehouse membership by paying $25/month for their Basic plan or $49/month for their Pro Plan.

As a Treehouse member, you can get access to 1000+ high quality video courses, interactive tools, on-demand learning, and a supportive community of students.

In this track, you’ll learn how to build beautiful, interactive websites by learning the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is critical to learn these three skills as it is used by nearly every single business in the world that needs a website to communicate to its customers. By the end of this track, you’ll have all the skills required to build your own websites or even start a career as a frontend developer.

Ruby on Rails is a popular choice for many startups where it’s important to be able to implement new features and ideas quickly and efficiently. Ruby on Rails is commonly used for building web applications. In fact, even Treehouse uses it!

By the end of this track, you’ll have what it takes to begin your career in many well-known companies and startups, or you could even begin your own startup!

PHP is commonly used by people who want to build a simple, dynamic website quickly and effortlessly. It’s become an extremely popular choice for web developers that roughly 80% of all websites use it now, including many Fortune 500 companies and top technology startups.

By the end of this track, you’ll have basic programming knowledge to build your own PHP websites.

In this track, you’ll learn how WordPress uses PHP and how you can integrate your own code to create custom web applications. WordPress, is one of the quickest and most popular ways to build a dynamic website. WordPress has become so popular that nearly 75-million websites all around the world are powered by it, which makes up almost 20% of the internet!

Also, because it’s an open-source platform, it has millions of themes and plugins available for anyone to use — most of which are completely free and easily customizable for your website.

In this track, you’ll learn how to design and build beautiful websites by learning the basic principles of design like branding, color theory, and typography which are all instrumental in the design process of a website. You’ll also learn HTML and CSS, which are the common code languages that all modern websites are built on.

These are useful skills to acquire as they are needed by nearly every single business in the world to communicate to customers. By the end of this track, you’ll have all the skills required to design and build your own websites or even start a career as a web designer.

Best Advanced Membership Courses

If you’re looking to take your skills to the next level, I highly recommend investing in Pluralsight to learn intermediate and advanced web development concepts.

The Pluralsight platform takes the guesswork out of learning by providing learning paths that combine specific courses and tools into one experience to teach you any given skill from start to finish. Paths are aligned to an individual's knowledge level, to help you develop the right skills in the right order.

What I greatly appreciate about their platform is that their course skill assessments identify where you should start in a path and what material you can skip over based on your current knowledge, so that you start at your current skill level. This is a huge time saver and allows you to hit the ground running.

As you progress through a course, you can measure your knowledge and skill development over time by completing associated learning checks, skill assessments and certification practice exams.

Their intermediate courses on HTML5 will show you how to build useful and meaningful applications using many new HTML features. You will learn how to create reusable web components, leverage JavaScript APIs for real-time communication, add rich media to your web pages and harness the power of data in the browser.

Their advanced HTML5 tutorial topics include a deeper dive into building rich internet applications. You will learn how to apply many of the new features found within the HTML5 specs, such as WebSockets, geolocation and web storage, offline applications, and more.

Pluralsight’s intermediate and advanced CSS courses cover how to make your CSS more readable, maintainable and easier to write with LESS and SASS. You will also dive a little deeper into the world of responsive design, CSS gradients, selectors, generated content, media queries, shadows, text-effects, transitions, animations and much more.

The intermediate and advanced JavaScript courses dive deeper into concepts including objects, scopes, and design patterns. You’ll also learn advanced event handling, jQuery deferred objects as well as best practices when it comes to syntax, behaviors, Async patterns, and production code.

For intermediate and advanced developers, you’ll learn about common jQuery bugs and how to fix them, in addition to working with forms and plugins. You’ll also see some handy tips and tricks you can use to improve your code quality. Advanced topics include complex event handling and customization.

Pluralsight’s intermediate and advanced Angular courses will help you better understand Angular as a whole, as well as taking a closer look at routing and different form approaches. They also help you optimize your development process by diving into Angular best practices.

For the React Path, you’ll learn more of the intricate elements within React, including working with Flux and Redux, in their intermediate React courses. Their advanced material covers topics like the context API, HOCs, external state, performance optimization, production deployment, testing and building a full-stack app using React.

Intermediate and advanced Node developers will master more of the nuanced topics including integrating Node.js with Express, asynchronous code, and working with RESTful web services. Furthermore, you’ll nail down testing, application patterns, and Node.js module structure.

Java developers will learn the ins and outs of memory management, reflection, frameworks like Spring, patterns, best practices, testable code, and much more in Pluralsight’s intermediate and advanced Java courses.

Now It's Your Turn!

You’ve read about the different resources out there to learn web development.

Now it’s time to choose one.

The first step?

Leave a comment to let me know what course you're going to enroll in first.

Will you purchase coding courses individually or signup for a membership?

As seen on Fox Business News, Entrepreneur, and other national media outlets, Hahna Kane Latonick has founded Invent With Code to help web developers go from $0 to $10K with their freelance developer business over 90 days, so that they have more time, money, and freedom to live life on their own terms.